Primary Care
Physician perspectives on preventive care, chronic disease management, and evidence-based primary care practice.
Recent Discussions
Do you recommend CT or ultrasound imaging testing when monitoring a patient with nephrocalcinosis?
I recommend CT. It is much more sensitive for detecting small changes in calcification than US. Yes, it is more expensive and requires a small amount of radiation, but if monitoring is indicated, I think sensitivity is most important. Stephen B. Erickson, MD
Would you recommend initially starting twice-weekly outpatient hemodialysis with close lab monitoring for nonoliguric AKI patients?
It is unusual in my experience to initiate dialysis for AKI as an outpatient. More often, patients with prolonged dialysis-requiring AKI may need to be transitioned from an inpatient setting to outpatient dialysis while awaiting improvement in kidney function. The question of when to initiate dialys...
What is your approach to preventing exercise-associated hyponatremia?
Exercise-associated hyponatremia is typically due to fluid intake in excess of fluid loss. Therefore, athletes should avoid overconsumption of fluids. Rather, athletes should drink according to thirst. In addition, it is important to recognize that electrolyte-containing sport drinks does not provid...
Should IVIG dosing in patients with autoimmune disease (i.e., dermatomyositis) who become pregnant continue to be based on actual weight at the time of each infusion, or should it be limited to pre-pregnancy weight?
This is a very interesting and incredibly pragmatic question, but not one with an easy answer.By way of background:The treatment of pregnant DM patients is understandably complicated by the need to balance adequately treating disease activity against the maternal/fetal toxicity of medications. In ad...
How do you determine if a positive thimerosal patch test isn't a false positive?
Thimerosal is commonly positive on patch testing and frequently not relevant. In fact, it was voted (non) Allergen of the Year by the American Contact Dermatitis Society. While small amounts are used in some influenzae vaccines, there is not much else that contains this. At one time, it was a preser...
How do you counsel patients who develop DVT or atrial fibrillation requiring anticoagulation when being treated with lecanemab or donanemab?
I do not think that anticoagulation is contraindicated in patients with these Alzheimer's disease antibodies, but I would want to check APOE status. I would not initiate the AD treatment if the patient is E4E4, and even one E4 would make me hesitant to have a patient on anticoagulation and an Alzhei...
How would you approach the management of a patient who develops an accelerated junctional rhythm who exhibits no symptoms and has no prior history of cardiac issues, aside from consulting a cardiologist?
There would be many clinical factors to consider before making a decision to treat to suppress such an arrhythmia including the age of the patient, presence of associated structural heart disease, symptoms associated with the arrhythmia, its rate and putative mechanism, and its pattern and persisten...
How would you manage a patient with nonspecific clinical symptoms and pathology consistent with spongiotic and psoriasiform dermatitis other than oral JAK inhibitors?
Vast majority of these patients will not have any diagnosable underlying cause (like 99% in a non-academic setting) and the longer and more you look before you treat, the longer and worse they suffer. Take your best guess if more psoriasiform or more eczematous. If guess psoriasiform give them sampl...
What is your approach to managing sicca symptoms in patients not responding or not tolerating conservative measures, pilocarpine, and cevimeline?
Try lower doses of pilocarpine with just 1/4 tablet at a time. Very slowly go up on the dose as tolerated. The patient's job is to find the maximum tolerated dose. I recommend this pill splitter: Mix capsule of cevimeline in water, just drink a tiny bit at a time tid and go up on dose as tolerated...
What treatments would you recommend for patients with chronic urticaria who have minimal improvement with anithistamines and Xolair?
Cyclosporine, no question about it. I start at about 3 mg/kg/d of modified cyclosporine if omalizumab been failed, then try to taper once it is well controlled. I also want to give glucosamine at about 25 mg/kg/d - which has been shown in a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial t...